"Heart to Heart"

"When I got to Los Rosales (my mission site) in Ecuador it was a shock to see how much the Sisters were lacking. We had two wrist blood pressure cuffs the first month I was there, then one disappeared (though I still believe it was stolen) and the others' batteries had corroded. We had to wipe off the acid and corrosion almost every time we used it, and then prayed that it worked...and it did most of the time, but you always knew it wasn't accurate.

It wasn't right. They deserved more and I wasn't content with waiting for things to get better or sort themselves out - because they simply weren't going to. I decided that I could either accept the situation as it was and become hopeless OR I could accept the situation as it was and do something about it. It was the "get busy living, or get busy dying" dilemma and I wanted them to live...

So I started simply. I called every company I knew and then some; every medical supply store, every manufacturer...no one went under the radar. And do you know what? Everyone was very helpful! It's amazing how encouraging total strangers can be and how much people genuinely want to help - even if it's simply giving you a new lead or transferring your call to another department .

Finally, I was directed to another non-profit organization who specializes in providing state-of-the-art and hospital-grade medical equipment and supplies to those "on the ground" - Heart to Heart, International.

Through working with VIDES+USA and Heart to Heart, Int. we received over $10,000 worth of medical equipment for the Sisters.

The clinic was beautiful. In the eyes of a kinesiology major...it was my Mona Lisa.

It would benefit the community at no-cost or consequence to the community. It wasn't disposable, so there would never be anything to re-order or replace. It was built for heavy-use in major hospitals and clinics, so it could take our simple workload with relatively no wear and tear. It was all rechargeable, so they'd never have to buy batteries. Plus, the battery packs were efficient and mobile, so they could plug it in for a minimal amount of time and then wheel the equipment around.. It would run on next to nothing.

The level of care changed. The attitude of the house changed. I was able to educate the nurse on how to use everything and helped her to further her education. When something was too complicated or past our medical limitations, we called doctors and educated them on the mechanics of the equipment - then they figured out the rest. So, with all these new toys - education was always key. Educating the community and educating the residents. So I found an easy way to bring education to the clinic - a donation from a generous family provided educational posters.The house owned long medical books and journals but, they were too in-depth and no one read them...posters were short, to the point and had vivid illustrations. They were perfect!"